Trust me, I have plenty of guilty pleasures in my life – but possibly the guilitiest of all is the fact that I love the movie Grease 2, the 1982 follow-up to the smash hit Grease. The fact that virtually none of main cast returned didn’t seem to bother the filmmakers, who did manage to scrape together a half-dozen of the original supporting cast, most notably Eve Arden, Sid Caesar, Eddie Deezen, and Didi Conn. The main cast were mostly newcomers, and remarkably, despite the universal panning the film got, many went on to bigger stardom in other works. One – Michelle Pfeiffer – achieved a pretty high level of superstardom even.
But the most important question that remains is: why on earth do I like this movie? As terrible as I can plainly see that it is, it’s one of those films that was played and replayed ad nauseum by my sister…and her friends…and our cousins to the point that I really had no choice but to either go mad or embrace it. Now every line, every song, every frame of the film evokes a memory of one of my favorite time periods, the early 1980’s.
So while I enjoyed meeting many members of the cast of the orginal Grease, I might actually have enjoyed this gang even more when some of them appeared at the Hollywood Show on January 12, 2013. Sadly, none of the ladies from the film were present, as it would have been great to meet Pamela Adlon and Lorna Luft, daughter of Judy Garland. But the gathering of men was quite impressive, including the leading actor and 75% of the four T-Birds.
For starters was Maxwell Caulfield, who played the lead Michael Carrington, English cousin of Olivia Newton-John’s character Sandy (tying it into the first film). He went on to future success in The Colbys, Dynasty, and Gettysburg. He was no stranger to me, as I had met him once before a long, long time ago – more than twenty-five years in fact. I had seen him star in the play Sleuth in Los Angeles during my first solo visit to California back in 1988. At that time, I had only had him sign my program, but believe it or not, I DID get a photo with him. Boy, we’ve changed. At least one of us has.
Maxwell Caulfield was no stranger to me, as I had met him once before a long, long time ago – more than twenty-five years in fact. I had seen him star in the play Sleuth in Los Angeles during my first solo visit to California back in 1988. At that time, I had only had him sign my program, but believe it or not, I DID get a photo with him. Boy, we’ve changed. At least one of us has.
Moving on to the T-Birds, we won’t start with the lead, but rather the most famous of them: Christopher McDonald. He played Goose in Grease 2, but he went on to much (much) bigger success in such films as Quiz Show, Happy Gilmore (as Shooter McGavin), Thelma & Louise, The Perfect Storm, The Man Who Wasn’t There, the film remake of Leave It to Beaver, the Midnight Run franchise (replacing Robert DeNiro in the sequels), an episode of Cheers, and as Jor-El in a few episodes of Superman: The Animated Series. In fact, I was quite surprised that they even got him here – especially as part of a Grease 2 reunion – but he was very nice. Unfortunately, he wore some sort of jacket with reflectors, which somewhat stymied attempts at a decent photo.
I’d actually seem him just a few months later when he starred in the play Lucky Guy with Tom Hanks. I got to meet him after that show as well, and he was still quite cool, having a bit of fun snapping photos of Tom Hanks along with the rest of the masses.
Whereas the first two actors I’ve mentioned charged the reasonable fee of $20 for an autograph and photo op, the second two were even more reasonable: just $10 each.
Adrian Zmed played the iconic Johnny Nogerelli, the leader of the T-Birds. His future acting roles weren’t as well-known to me, but he did achieve some success in Officer Vince Romano in the TV series T.J. Hooker – as well as appearances in such TV shows as Empty Nest, Bosom Buddies, and Caroline in the City.
Some who have actually seen Grease 2 may recall the song from the film called Brad. So did Leif Green, who played Davey Jaworski in the film. Once he found out my name, he flambouyantly serenaded me with it not once, but twice. As I happened by after getting my photo signed, he started singing it again, and I was able use that as a springboard to go ahead and request a photo with all three of the T-Birds together.
He hadn’t done much acting at all, but you might spot him in an episode of The Facts of Life. He went on to be an Assistant Production Manager and then Productions Manager for animation in the 2000’s. My friend David had actually met him at the Disney Studios in the past.
Incidentally, I did ask why Peter Frechette, who played Louis DiMucci in the film, wasn’t there. Apparently he was currently working on a show on Broadway. I naturally asked if he was “doing it for his country.”
Celebrity encounters form the Winter 2013 Hollywood Show will continue…
Cool post! As you know, I LOVE this movie!
Denise
August 19th, 2014
HA! Outstanding!
Grease 2 is the business! The songs!!!
Reproduction?! Cool Rider?! The Free theme song!? Good stuff.
Love any Zmed sighting too
Eric Hubble
August 26th, 2014
Free theme song? Free Birds.
Eric Hubble
August 26th, 2014
Prowlin. There.
Eric Hubble
August 26th, 2014
http://youtu.be/RStkV0H0gkQ
Eric Hubble
August 26th, 2014